EHSS CAPACITY BUILDING FOR LOCAL CONSULTANTS

EHSS Capacity Building for Local Consultants

Assignment Description: The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the EBRD, the Bank) requires its clients to manage their businesses responsibly from an environmental, health and safety and social (EHSS) perspective. Despite the on-going alignment of EHSS standards in the Bank�s countries of operation (CoO) with those of the Bank and the European Union (EU), the Bank continues to see considerable variability in the scope, stringency and implementation of these standards across its jurisdictions. Three key factors that typically influence EHSS performance across economic sectors are:

� the resources and competency of regulatory authorities to promulgate requirements and monitor and enforce them;
� the in-house HSE staff capabilities of private/public sector companies; and
� the presence and capabilities of consultancy support services that are able to assist companies in addressing regulatory and lender-driven requirements, and improving their EHSS performance through a culture of continuous improvement.
The latter has proven to be a limiting factor in the Bank�s CoO, placing an increasing reliance on the Bank to retain international consultancy services to meet the needs of the Bank and its clients. As the Bank�s EHSS requirements have evolved, the international consultancy market has also developed to look beyond issues related solely to domestic regulatory compliance and now encompasses International Good Practice, Continuous Risk Improvement and Corporate Social Responsibility and wider corporate governance concepts. This development in the market place is reflected in the standards required by the EBRD, Equator Banks and other international financial institutions (IFIs), including the International Finance Corporation (IFC), European Investment Bank (EIB), Asian Development Bank (ADB) and African Development Bank (AfDB). Accordingly, local service providers are required to acquire knowledge and develop skills in line with the international market to ensure that the Bank and its client-base receive value from the services on offer. This enhancement of local capacity is required over areas such as EHSS due diligence appraisal and evaluation, Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) and monitoring of EHSS performance.
The Bank now wishes to engage an international consultant (the Consultant) to provide comprehensive training courses to local EHSS specialists in Albania, Serbia, Mongolia, Turkey, Croatia, FYR Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (the Assignment). The training shall include a balance of classroom theoretical and procedural instruction, and practical field-based site visits to operational industrial facilities. Previous experience has found that a mix of four days in the classroom with one day set aside for site visits provides an effective balance of practical vs. hands-on training.

The workshops will involve, inter alia, a mixture of formal presentations, simulation exercises and a mock audit of a local facility. The subject matter (which will be prescribed by the Bank for the consultants) will include the following:

� Due diligence requirements of the EBRD and other IFIs with which the Bank co-finances or syndicates deals. This will cover the full appraisal and due diligence process carried out by the Bank, including project categorisation, EHSS due diligence planning, the auditing and analysis process, and the Bank�s approach to applying the mitigation hierarchy.

� An overview of banking and investment processes and the differences in the environmental and social implications related to differing investment types (debt vs. equity, bonds, lending facilities and the leverage available in differing scenarios).

� The legal mechanisms through which the Bank and IFIs agree, covenant and ensure on actions designed to manage risk and drive compliance with Policy. This will include loan documentation tools such as representations and warranties, covenants, conditions precedent and subsequent etc. and Environmental and Social Action Plans.

� An overview of applicable IFI, EU and international EHSS legislation and requirements for key economic sectors. EU EHSS requirements and those of key co-financiers such as the IFC, AfDB, AsDB, bilaterals, Equator banks and ECAs. This will include but not be limited to, the IFC Performance Standards, EP III and the OECD Common Approaches.

� Health and safety: particular emphasis on occupational health and safety, emergency and contingency planning and response, as well sector specific H&amp;S issues related to high risk sectors such as construction, mining, steel etc.

� Consulting Skills: identifying business opportunities, marketing in the EHSS sector, preparing technical proposals and CVs, developing an international network of contacts, further capacity building and staff development needs etc

� Business risks to consultancy. This will include contract risk, reliance, addressing, insurance and dispute mechanisms.

Status of Selection Process: Interested firms or groups of firms are hereby invited to submit expressions of interest.

Assignment Start Date and Duration: It is anticipated that the Assignment will commence in February 2014 and be completed by 31 July 2015. No extension to the Assignment is currently envisaged.

Cost Estimate for the Assignment:EUR 450,000; exclusive of VAT.

The Consultant must determine whether any VAT would be chargeable on the services and the basis for that determination, without taking into consideration the Bank’s special status as an IFI and state this to the Bank in their response to the Invitation for Expressions of Interest. To the extent that a consultant incurs input VAT on goods and services purhcased in connection with the provision of services (e.g. VAT on airline ticket) which is not otherwise recoverable by the consultant from the local tax authority, the gross cost to the consultant of such expenses shall be treated as a reimbursable expense.

Funding Source: EBRD’s Shareholder Special Fund.

Eligibility: There are no eligibility restrictions.

Consultant Profile: Corporate services are required.

The Consultant will be a firm or a group of firms with extensive experience in delivering EHSS training and capacity-building programmes in international settings. It is envisaged that the Consultant�s team of experts will be able to demonstrate the following skills, qualities and capacity for the purposes of this assignment:
� experience delivering results-based EHSS training /capacity-building programmes;
� understanding of relevant EBRD, EU and IFI EHSS policies and procedures;
� relevant project experience in the EBRD�s CoOs carrying out ESDD, including monitoring, for public and private sector clients;
� experience developing ESIAs, ESMPs and related ESMS to international EHSS standards and good industry practices;
� experience and related capacity to manage the local meeting logistics; and,
� experience developing key performance indicators (KPIs) and related metrics to monitor program success/outcomes over time.
It is anticipated that each workshop will be delivered by at least three specialists
with international expertise in the following areas: EHSS impact assessment and management.
Submission Requirements: In order to determine the capability and experience of Consultants seeking to be selected for this Assignment, the information submitted should include the following:

1. Company profile, organisation and staffing (max. 2-4 pages);
2. Details of previous project experience or similar assignments undertaken in the previous five years, including information on contract value, contracting entity/client, project location/country, duration (mm/yy to mm/yy), expert months provided (if different from duration) , main activities, objectives;
3. CVs of key experts who could be available to work on the Assignment;
4. Completed contact sheet, the template for which is available from the following web-link:

The complete expression of interest (including CVs and Contact Sheet) shall be one file (pdf or Word), not exceeding 4MB, to be uploaded to eSelection. The EBRD reserves the right to reject applications of firms submitting more than one file. Only if the permissible file size is exceeded, the Consultant may split the expression of interest into further files.

Expressions of Interest shall be submitted, in English, electronically through e-Selection, to reach the Bank not later than the closing date.
Bank Contact Person:Georgia Vasiliadis (Ms)
Advisor
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
One Exchange Square
London EC2A 2JN
Tel: + 44 20 7338 7750
e-mail: [email protected] (submissions should be sent through eSelection and NOT to this email address)

Notes: Following this invitation for expressions of interest, a shortlist of qualified firms will be formally invited to submit proposals. Consultant selection and contracting will be subject to availability of funding.